Uber drivers cancelling non-surge fares

[whole diary]

[Brucey]

I've used the taxi requesting app Uber several times in the past, all in major cities to request journeys to/from airports.  Everything worked really well.  Yesterday, I decided to do the same in Portsmouth to travel home after lunch.

I noticed "surge pricing" was in effect.  This is where the fare increases at popular times to encourage more drivers to start working.  The surge was varying between 1.3x and 3.7x.  As the fare was around £15, I had no intention of paying over £55 for the same journey.

Eventually the surge dropped to 1.3x and I requested a taxi which was accepted.  Driver arrived within two minutes and we got into the vehicle.  On doing this, I received an immediate push notification saying the driver had cancelled the journey.  He then insisted Uber had cancelled it (the message from Uber suggested otherwise) and I should re-request in my app.

Re-requested a taxi and the surge had increased to 3.4x!  It seemed to me that the driver was trying to manipulate the system by turning lower fares into higher multiple.  In the end, we got out of the taxi as it would have been cheaper to use a hackney cab from the taxi rank down the street.

A few minutes later, surge pricing completely ended and I had my request accepted by another driver who took us at standard rates.

I can't say I was impressed with the app yesterday.  The availability of drivers outside the main city centre was poor and there's no guarantee that an accepted request will actually turn into a journey.

[chrisr_75]

Perhaps this is why the London cabbies are getting so upset. Black cabs might be expensive, but at least the fare is strictly regulated (as are the vehicles) and one taxi will cost pretty much the same as another.

I have a little more sympathy with taxi drivers who use taximeters getting peed off with Uber after reading about your recent experiences with it.

[grahame]

Showing a degree (a high degree!) of ignorance here and widening the subject a bit.   

How widely available is Uber these days?   

We sometimes find it very difficult to find a (taxi) ride / market town with a population of around 25,000.  Taxis are available on the rank in the town during the quieter parts of the day and early evening, but there's no central booking number I'm aware of and at times such as 8 to 9 in the morning, they're all busy, or have other bookings if you're looking for a longer run.  Would Uber be available?

I rarely use a taxi myself - rather travelling by train / bus.  However, on Friday evening I had an emergency requirement to get back from Bath to Melksham.    What I thought was a good fare for the taxi driver clearly upset his personal plans as he had gone onto the rank for one last short fare at the end of the day but was (because of my longer ride) going home to a cold dinner ...

There may be (probably are) inadequacies with Uber ... but so there are with the alternative "taxi on demand" system.

[Brucey]

How widely available is Uber these days?

In the UK^▸ (United Kingdom), it appears to be available in cities only.  This is also dependant on local licensing authorities, e.g. although Uber is "available" in Cambridge, there are no drivers licensed by the council, so you will only ever be able to request a taxi if there's a driver from a surrounding area nearby (highly unlikely).

We sometimes find it very difficult to find a (taxi) ride / market town with a population of around 25,000.  Taxis are available on the rank in the town during the quieter parts of the day and early evening, but there's no central booking number I'm aware of and at times such as 8 to 9 in the morning, they're all busy, or have other bookings if you're looking for a longer run.  Would Uber be available?

I recently attempted to get a taxi at 8:30am in Aberystwyth (population approx. 15,000) and failed with every company I tried calling.  Uber is not available there and it is unlikely many drivers would accept such short fares early in the morning anyway.

[LiskeardRich]

Truro is pretty much impossible to get a taxi or private hire at 0830 due to there being so many council contracts for schools in the rural areas.

[Bmblbzzz]

So the driver (or Uber?) cancelled the journey after you'd got into the vehicle? How is that even possible? Surely once a fare and destination are agreed, that's it?

[Bmblbzzz]

How widely available is Uber these days?

In the UK^▸ (United Kingdom), it appears to be available in cities only.  This is also dependant on local licensing authorities, e.g. although Uber is "available" in Cambridge, there are no drivers licensed by the council, so you will only ever be able to request a taxi if there's a driver from a surrounding area nearby (highly unlikely).

We sometimes find it very difficult to find a (taxi) ride / market town with a population of around 25,000.  Taxis are available on the rank in the town during the quieter parts of the day and early evening, but there's no central booking number I'm aware of and at times such as 8 to 9 in the morning, they're all busy, or have other bookings if you're looking for a longer run.  Would Uber be available?

I recently attempted to get a taxi at 8:30am in Aberystwyth (population approx. 15,000) and failed with every company I tried calling.  Uber is not available there and it is unlikely many drivers would accept such short fares early in the morning anyway.

Doesn't appear to be a problem for conventional taxi firms... About two weeks ago, I ordered (on Saturday evening) a taxi for Sunday morning. At the appointed time, I got a call from the driver. Went out and couldn't see a taxi. But there was a silver Merc whose driver was waving at me. No private hire plates or ID but had my name, knew the destination, clearly sent by the firm. I had to get where I was going (hospital appointment  ) so decided to go with him. He didn't have a meter either, but the fare he charged seemed reasonable based on similar length journeys I've made in proper Hackneys. I'm not sure if a meter is actually a legal requirement for private hire but most use them anyway. I did consider reporting him, or rather the incident and the firm as I had no complaint against him personally – reasonable fare, drove at least as well as a 'proper' taxi driver – and had no way of identifying him individually anyway (hadn't noticed the reg, wouldn't really be able to describe him in detail) but I didn't.

[TaplowGreen]

Suspect he was using his own car - I'd be very careful getting into "taxis" in these circumstances, the wavelengths they use for their radio controls are not secure and there have been numerous criminal incidents in similar scenarios.

[ChrisB]

I thought that was the way Uber worked? Drivers using their own cars?

[TaplowGreen]

I thought that was the way Uber worked? Drivers using their own cars?

Well yes smartarse, but with Uber's Ts & Cs they are also supposed to provide their picture/rating on booking and ID on arrival, and should have a license plate with registration.

I know a girl who got into a car whose driver claimed to be cabbie on a rank outside a pub in London, she barely escaped being raped, there are many unlicensed taxis especially in London and that was the point I was trying to make  - better safe than sorry.

[Brucey]

So the driver (or Uber?) cancelled the journey after you'd got into the vehicle? How is that even possible? Surely once a fare and destination are agreed, that's it?

Yes, they cancelled it after getting in the vehicle.  Once you get in, they tap a button on their version of the app to start the "meter".  He chose to press another few buttons, which cancelled the journey.  This was possible as he hadn't pressed to button to say we had got in the car.

[Brucey]

But there was a silver Merc whose driver was waving at me. No private hire plates or ID but had my name, knew the destination, clearly sent by the firm. I had to get where I was going (hospital appointment  ) so decided to go with him. He didn't have a meter either, but the fare he charged seemed reasonable based on similar length journeys I've made in proper Hackneys. I'm not sure if a meter is actually a legal requirement for private hire but most use them anyway. I did consider reporting him, or rather the incident and the firm as I had no complaint against him personally – reasonable fare, drove at least as well as a 'proper' taxi driver – and had no way of identifying him individually anyway (hadn't noticed the reg, wouldn't really be able to describe him in detail) but I didn't.

The taxis we use for work are the same: usually a silver Merc or other executive vehicle.  No meter (fare is fixed price on account) and no private hire plates.  I've always thought this a bit strange, but it's a large company with many drivers, so the council will be fully aware of their business.

[Bmblbzzz]

The fact that the council are aware of the business doesn't mean they know every detail of its operations or have the resources to scrutinise every transaction, even assuming a journey with an unlicensed driver or vehicle would be on the books. It's easy to imagine how it might work: We've got no one to cover the 9 o'clock tomorrow morning, boss. Ok, I'll ask Bob if he wants to earn a tenner.

The situation Taplow Green describes is thankfully rare (and was not in my mind at the time, though of course even being an unattractive middle-aged man doesn't make you immune!) but there must be numerous instances of rip off fares, petty theft and probably most commonly, passengers being injured in crashes where the driver turns out to be uninsured.

[Brucey]

The fact that the council are aware of the business doesn't mean they know every detail of its operations or have the resources to scrutinise every transaction, even assuming a journey with an unlicensed driver or vehicle would be on the books. It's easy to imagine how it might work: We've got no one to cover the 9 o'clock tomorrow morning, boss. Ok, I'll ask Bob if he wants to earn a tenner.

That is true, but the vehicles do have the company logo on the doors.  I doubt they would advertise the vehicle as "[company name] executive hire" if it weren't properly licensed.

I found the local authority has an online search for looking up licensed people.  Every driver I've had is listed there (they send a text message with the driver's full name before it arrives).  No idea why they are not displaying the private hire plate.

[TonyK]

I am a very occasional taxi user, and have stayed clear of Uber because of some of the negative publicity. In Bristol, getting a cab from home is easy enough if you pre-book, and there are just too many of them at Temple Meads! South Molton can pose other problems, as every taxi in the town (about 3) is involved in the school run in the morning.

Best taxi I have had this year was in Vancouver. It was cheap, spotless, and one of those hybrids. We travelled the full journey on electric power. There was a list of the authorised charges (quite a long list with some rather odd items), and a meter.